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I'm not sure about the darktrooper. It's not quite evil enough. It's quasi-evil. It's semi-evil. It's the...ohh you get the picture, just build me some new evil deathtrap that I can drop my incompetent henchmen into.

Check out the Cade Skywalker thread for my work on that, Darktroopernut.

Jet Pack's looking good Tubachris. It's kind of hard for me to make out what needs to be done at this stage, but I think you've got a good grasp of the situation. Keep it up.

Well im quit surprised how well this is turning out myself, pretty much what is left is to complet that box first with detail, and paint it before i can attach it. On the main side there is a nasty line of the dried glue thats holding the two main pieces together, but it cuts right through a detail, so what im planning to do, is make a whole other surface to cover it, and give it a less 2D look, plus, I just realized that at the very bottom below the thrusters, the surface actully cruves down a bit. Im trying to get all this stuff planed and assembled at a good pace, but thats what I got.

I finally got the nerve to go down to Lowes to seek materials for my vacu-form box. The thing was that their customer servie sucks! I called for someone to help me at leat 45 times, becuase I wanted to get a sheet of MDF cut down. No one ever came, so I took initiative, and found already cut down wood that will work other then the MDF. Its 2ft x 2ft table now, took me 2 and 1/2 hours to build tonight. I put a hole through the center (well almost center) as. Its simply amaziing how I managed to build this thing from only a dremel, some left over screws, and $13 worth of wood....Anywyas, Im hoping to convice my mom to let me use her oven, an another reason for her to kill me...

Well despite my fiasco at lowes on my search to find someone in my almost blind anger, I came across the hardest piece I thought I would take forever to find. For the jet pack, there is on the sides of the protruding boxes at the top, a round piece, which I could not find anywhere in the hardware store, but just came across this accidentally. Matches perfectly, despite the square thing in the middle, but I dont care at this point.

Chris, this is just amazing. I've always wanted to do a Darktrooper myself, but never gave it any real consideration as I never had the resources (or skills ) to do it. Seeing you take the plunge into something that has never been done before (at least that I have seen) with very little reference and what must have been a hard start is awesome and just downright respectable.

If, in the future, you do decide to use the bucks to sell a few copies, I may be interested (I'll leave it at that )

Chris...for your Vaccumtable box, you might get some silicone via a caulking gun, or one of the squeeze tube ones, and line the inside of it...make it pretty much so no air can leak through...and it will give you way better suction.

Chris, this is just amazing. I've always wanted to do a Darktrooper myself, but never gave it any real consideration as I never had the resources (or skills ) to do it. Seeing you take the plunge into something that has never been done before (at least that I have seen) with very little reference and what must have been a hard start is awesome and just downright respectable.

If, in the future, you do decide to use the bucks to sell a few copies, I may be interested (I'll leave it at that )

Thanks, I realy do appreciate that, and even though you may not be 6'7, you can have a set

Gilmore of OKChris...for your Vaccumtable box, you might get some silicone via a caulking gun, or one of the squeeze tube ones, and line the inside of it...make it pretty much so no air can leak through...and it will give you way better suction.

Yea, I was acctually about to do this, but I was soooooo tired after building the thing by hand. I'll take note to do that before I begin.

Just to keep you guys updated, I went ahead and sealed the inside of the box and acquired some saw horses for it. I built two equal holding frames as well. What I have left to do before its ready, is I have to attach some hinges, and improv a locking/ mechanism for it as well. Then, I need to construct an oven. I plan to build a box, equal to the holding frame, line the inside with that heat resitant, reflective metalic tape, and then put together 3 rows of 3, of those IR bulbs, the red ones that are meant for generating heat. So those are the only things left for that.

To add to this, a fellow Tuba player, who is actually just short of my height, and general size wants to help, so he as well can have a Darktrooper suit. I plan to go to home depot this sunday, and pick up some MDF sheets, and start constructing the arm piece, wrist gauntlets, hand guards and possibly biceps. These are what Im planning but it still depends on when I get the proper tools. LOL I put my poor dremel through hell getting it this far.

I just finished weatherstripping the platen (table top surface of the machine) and it looks like that will keep it airtight with the frame on top. About the frame, I had built two "almost" identical frames, but I mathamatically screwed up the measurements, making them too narrow, and not even with the box itself, plus, I need to use a different method of attachment between each piece as well. I learned that my grandfather has a whole garage of power tools, and that I may use anything thats in there for this project, so Im going down there tomorrow, which will speed up the project. Also, I went to lowes and was looking at the Halogen bulbs, and I was trying to find what are called "IR bulbs," sopposed to be for generating heat. I saw a lable saying "internal reflective" bulbs, but I was not sure exactly if that was it. If anyone knows what Im trying to find, please let me know. Thanks guys!

Dang dude, nice work there. Oh and since its one o'clock AM. You must be hardcore at making costumes!

Ah nerts........Well, I lost track of time, well, dosnt matter, what ever gets me closer to finishing this thing. You have no idea how much I want to get this thing done, not because im tired of working on it, I just want to have it lol, and know that I am actually capable of building this...no matter, I told myself regardless, Im finishing this, end-of-story

I went down, and got some power tools for making the molds. I acquaired a hand powered circular saw, a jigg saw, belt sander, and a hand planer. I still need to get one of those smaller hand sanders though. I can start making the molds this week once I get the MDF sheets from home depot. One major step closer to getting this completed!!!

Nice to see you still going full bore on this. Do you know of any other members in your area that could help you out instaed of you making it a one man project?

Two heads are always better than one, and it makes the work go a lot faster as well.

Good luck, and I look forward to more progress pics..

I have actually been trying to get pthers to come out and help me out, but they are fellow students at my school, and out scheduals limit us to only weekends if we do get together to work on it. I have 3 people who want to make TK suits, but I told them that they would have to pay for the MDF if they were dedicated enough for the project. I hate to say it, but a few of them say they want to, but when I ask them to come down, or even really talk about it, they always "have something else to do," and I find that they arent as dedicated to the project, that I need them to bee. I'd ask the 501st members, but they live way too far to come down to really help me out. So in the end, it is going to be a one man project all the way. Im settin a goal for myself, to get this built and ready before I leave for college (if I get accepted, I find out on Valentines day, nervous)
But If I get accepted, I'll be leaving for FSU in June, so I have a fe months.

I just got my first hand introduction into the world of power tools and the world of sawdust....

I began making the layers for my first mold. It is for the helmet modification of the backpiece, for the FX helmet. My jigg saw busted on me (its old, and just bought $10 saw blades too!) So I was reduced to using my larger circular saw, to cut around the lines, and then use my dremel to cut partially in the excess to weaken the wood, and then sanded it down with the belt sander. I cut out two shapes but my tracer piece is sanded down to its final shape before I go ahead and glue all needed 14 layers....Enjoy.